GLF 65:GB has his views on the 'Pint at the Match' debate
Drinking at Football
I have read with much interest the comments following the granting of drinks licences at Murrayfield for Rugby games.After attending a number of Premiership games in recent years I have mentioned to many people that I know that I believe it would be a good thing to do up here.Many people fear it would bring back the "bad old days" of the 1970's when carry-outs were taken into the game and people got more and more pissed as the game went along. As their behaviour deteriorated they also had the weapons to hurl at fellow fans or players. Very often, many of us will remember these cans/bottles were full of pee given the owner had recently relieved themselves into said vessel.
My experience in recent years of English grounds shows that this cannot happen. Drinks can be bought up to 10 minutes before kick off and no glasses (or should it really be plastic tumblers) can be taken into the seating area.
Bars are therefore open for about one hour twenty minutes - I guess long enough for some to get drunk but the environment seems to prevent people from doing so. The concourse is self-policing given the number of families and interestingly the number of females present.There is also a chance for a pint at half time and up to 5:30 after the game.
I have long held the belief that I cannot see the difference between the clubs offering these drinking hours (apart from half-time) to the pubs and clubs that surround the ground.Having sold this august publication outside the Fir Park club I know how many people attend there from about 1:30 or so and leave after ten to three for a mad rush into the ground. There is also a rush back there (and other places around the ground) where people will stay beyond 5:30 before returning home.Therefore I don't understand why people feel that selling alcohol inside the ground will bring back the dark days of the 1970's. It could well be that it brings about a change in the pre-football culture that we have at the moment and bring a bit of civilization to our drinking culture.
Using the English game as an example again, my last trip south was to the JJB Stadium for Wigan v Middlesbrough in May.Interestingly the rowdy drinkers were those in a pub adjacent to the ground rather than those drinking inside it. These drinkers would have found a way to keep their intake up one way or another.
The major problem I see preventing it working in Scotland is that many of the clubs do not have the facilities and the space to offer the service, although if there is money to be made they may somehow find it!
Graham Barnstaple
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